Return of the Benders
by Jude von Verloren
Summary: What happens when the art of bending the four elements enters the modern world? Cade Wilson is about to find out...
1. The Attack

Chapter 1: Attacked

I rammed my hand into the center of the steering wheel, emitting the shrill blast that was my car horn. The yellow cab that was inches away from my right headlight quickly swerved back into his own lane.

"Idiot cab driver," I muttered to myself. If the crazy people that ran around in Manhattan didn't kill me, then the drivers definitely would. I continued down the road until I came across a red light. I rested my foot on the brake pedal and sighed. At this rate, I was never going to get to class on time.

Are you confused yet? I would be.

For those who are, I'll formally introduce myself. My name is Cade Wilson. I'm eighteen years old, and I live with my older brother, John. My parents dumped us when I was about three weeks old. I never knew why they ran off, they just did. My brother and I were sent to an orphanage for a while, but we moved into an apartment when my brother was old enough to be looking after me. My brother was lucky enough to find a well paying job, and soon sent me to school. And now, well, here I am.

I picked my foot up off of the brake and dropped it back onto the gas pedal. I crossed the intersection and kept going down the street until something weird happened. Something down-right freaky actually. The ground erupted right in front of me, creating a wall of concrete and dirt. I slammed on the brake again, but it was too late. My car rammed into the structure protruding from the ground at a minimum of twenty-six miles per hour. I lurched forward, and my face collided with the airbag. The car bounced again, as one of the cars behind me hit my bumper. Yeah, I was definitely gonna be late for class. I unbuckled and prepared to exit the car, but the door swung open before I could move my legs.

Suddenly, a gloved hand grasped onto my shoulder, and I was hauled out of my wrecked car. I was about to thank whoever had gotten me out, until I realized that they weren't letting go. As the stranger pulled again, I lost my footing and landed on my back on the ground. This time the stranger didn't help me up; he actually proceeded to take this opportunity to drag me deep into a nearby alleyway. I kicked and hollered, but it had little effect. The stranger yanked me upward, and pressed me against a brick wall. Looking down on him, I took in his features. He was tall; a black fedora shadowed his face. He was wearing padded gloves that were currently pressed against my collarbone and a long, dark jacket that probably concealed a multitude of weapons. This guy looked like someone out of a 1930's gangster film.

"Where are they?" he spoke softly but firmly, his voice sending chills down my spine. As any New York-er would do, I gathered up a hunk of saliva and spat in the man's face. He breathed in and out, obviously agitated. He backed away from me and wiped the spit away…but…his gloves still held me against the wall…as if controlled by some otherworldly force. Getting a better look at my attacker, I noticed several unique features. Underneath his coat, the man was wearing a dark green vest, and a golden tie. The green stripe across the base of his fedora also caught my attention. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw two more men dressed exactly the same enter the alleyway.

The man in front of me reached into his jacket and pulled out an arrowhead stone. I watched in astonishment and horror as the rock floated out of his palm and gently pushed up against my throat.

"I said, where are they?" the man asked, seemingly angrier.

"Who are you talking about?" I asked with a clearly scared tone.

"You're parents," he responded and the rock against my throat steadily grew closer.

"How should I know? They ran off years ago!" I exclaimed. I suddenly felt the pressure against my throat and collarbone ease up, and eventually they were both gone. I fell to the ground with a thud. Looking up, I saw why they had let me down. Their attention had been drawn to something else: a man with a water bottle in his hand coming straight towards us.

"You probably want to let him go right about now," he said, taking a sip of water.

"Why's that?" my attacker inquired.

"Just a thought…" the man mused. My attacker nodded his head and his two twins stepped towards the man.

"Run!" I yelled to the man and was immediately kicked in the face. Just then, the man dropped the bottle….but the water stayed floating around his hand. This was SO weird! He swung his hands around, and in result, the water whipped around and splashed one of the attackers in the face. The other shot his hands out, causing a chunk of the ground to go flying towards the water man's gut. Before the rock could hit him, the man rolled out of the way and pushed the stream of water down the attacker's throat, gagging him.

"Look out!" he yelled at me. I quickly whipped my head around to see the third attacker going for me. Instead of running like I probably should have, I curled my hand into a fist and swung at him. My hand didn't make contact with the attacker, but a strong gust of wind erupted from my fist and sent him flying onto his back.

"We have to get out of here now," the water man said, running up to my side. He turned and ran, and I followed out of curiosity.

"Care to explain to me what the freak just happened?" I called.

"No time!" he responded as we entered the streets again, blending into the crowd and slowing down, "Just keep moving."


	2. Discovery

Chapter 2- Discovery

We continued down the street for about six blocks until we reached a large van parked on the curb. The water man motioned for me to get in. I was hesitant, but I was almost sure that the attackers were following us, so I got in anyway.

"Okay, WHAT is going on?" I asked as we pulled off the curb. "Who are you?"

"My name is Zander White. You're Cade, right?" he questioned.

"Yeah…" I replied, curious as to how he knew who I was.

"Good, then I grabbed the right guy. I was worried that I'd accidentally picked up the wrong target," Zander explained. _Target? Are you kidding me? _ I thought to myself.

"Who were the people that attacked me..or..us? How did you do that water thing? Why did those guys want my parents?" I spoke out every question that was running through my mind.

"Easy, kid. I'll explain everything, but you've gotta pay attention because this is confusing and I'm not gonna repeat myself," Zander explained. "Thousands and thousands of years ago, before land was fully divided into our modern-day continents, there lived four great nations. Each nation was devoted to the four elements: the Fire Nation, Earth Kingdom, Water Tribe, and the Air Nomads. In each different nation, there were those who were chosen by the spirits to harness these elements, known as benders. Among all the benders stood the Avatar, the master who could control all four elements and was charged with the responsibility of keeping the peace amongst the four nations."

"Okay, and what does this have to do with what's happening right now?" I asked as I looked at Zander like he was crazy.

"Oh, right. Over time, the Fire Nation became power hungry and launched a campaign against the other three nations. It looked like they were about to win, that is until the last known Avatar, Avatar Aang, stepped in and defeated Fire Lord Ozai. The end of the Great War marked the beginning of the passing of the four nations. As the benders and the Avatar grew old, they became legends. And as we both know, legends become myths, and myths become old fairytales told in nursery rhymes. Aang was the last Avatar to ever live, and the benders supposedly died away as time passed. Soon the earth began to shift and break apart, as did the four nations. The benders, Avatar, and four nations all faded away over the course of a century and were all presumed extinct…until about a hundred years ago.

"A young boy named Ross Andrews discovered that he could move earth at will. In his following years, he discovered that he could also manipulate air, earth, and fire. We don't know how, but by the time he graduated college, he managed to dig up the history of the four nations, Avatar, benders, and everything in between. He discovered he was the Avatar of his day, and that the benders hadn't died out, they were just dormant. Upon learning all this, he immediately contacted the spirit world, where the spirits gave him the identities of every dormant bender in the world, and he made an effort to find and gather as many as he could.

"He started up a school/training center right here in New York for these benders, known as the Andrews Academy of Ancient Studies. It's still here." I gulped, wondering if I could believe anything he was saying. "And it's where we're headed to now, in case you were wondering."

"I was. And why might we be going there? I'm no bender," I tried to persuade Zander.

"Yeah, that's where you're wrong, Cade. You are a bender. An airbender, to be exact. A descendant of the once great Air Nomads. Avatar Aang was an airbender too," explained. My stomach churned, and I rolled down the window and vomited. "Well, that's not exactly the response I was hoping for."

"You're kidding me. You have GOT to be kidding me," I stammered.

"Wish I was, kid. But I'm not. Didn't you see what happened when you tried to punch that guy in the alley?" Zander reasoned. I ran my hand through my short brown hair as I realized that he was right. When I tried to punch my attacker, he had flown backwards, as if swept away by a gust of wind.

"Those guys in the alley, who were they?" I asked.

"Agents of the Dai Li. The Dai Li were once a group of the smartest, fastest, strongest, and most powerful earthbenders that served as a secret police to the Earth King. But they were turned and tricked into devotion to the Fire Nation. We attempted to revive them at the school, but the went rogue and betrayed us once their training was finished. No one knows what they're after or what their purpose is now, we just know that they're dangerous as crap," Zander explained.

"Well I know what they're after now: my parents," I said in reply.

"Who were they?" he queried.

"Don't know. Left before I could ever know them," I proclaimed. "How many of them are there? Of the Dai Li, I mean?"

"Hard to say. When they left, there were about twelve. But they could have recruited and trained so many more since then," Zander estimated.

"I'm guessing you knew how to find me using Avatar Ross Andrews' super secret spirit powers, right?" I asked him, half mocking him.

"No, Avatar Andrews died at least fifty years ago. Now the school is run by the new Avatar: a firebender named Avatar Yendis. But yes, Yendis did send me to find you," Zander spoke.

"He must have given his parents hell for sticking him with a name like Yendis," I commented.

"Actually, that's not his real name. No one knows what is. If you become Avatar, you are given a name chosen by the monks. Yendis means leader in some language, modern or ancient," Zander responded. We finally pulled into a parking space in front of a large building with bright red bricks. "We're here. Cade, welcome to the Andrews Academy of Ancient Studies."


	3. The Choice

IMPORTANT UPDATE: Cade's parents left him when he was three WEEKS old and Avatar Andrews died FIFTY years ago

Chapter 3: The Choice

"She doesn't look like much," I muttered, glazing over the tall, large, rundown looking building. I was beginning to get skeptical.

"It's inconspicuous though. It's not like we could build a gigantic and beautiful structure and expect no one to become suspicious," Zander explained as he headed up the stairs. "You coming, airbender?" He extended his hand out; an invitation. I followed him up the steps and pushed his hand away.

"It's just Cade. And it will be unless I'm convinced otherwise," I warned. Zander lead me through the front doors into the building, and I had to keep my jaw from dropping. The halls were filled with people from age ranges from sixteen and up. This was no school, it was more like a community. Zander motioned towards me and I followed in his footsteps down the crowded hallway.

"Where are we going?" I asked.

"Principle's office," he responded. "Gotta get you registered for classes."

"Classes? I'm almost a month away from graduating high school. Why do I need classes?" I tried to reason.

"Look around you, kid. There are people around here who look a month away from graduating college. Here, you don't just take regular school classes, you need to learn how to master your bending too. Why do you think you're here?" Zander pointed out. He was right too. Zander opened a door and gestured me to enter. In the room was a large desk and chair, in which was seated a man with jet black hair and pale skin.

"Yendis, this is Cade Wilson, the airbender you sent me to find," Zander introduced me. The man stood up and came over to my side.

"Welcome Mr. Wilson. I am Avatar Yendis. It's a pleasure to meet you," the Avatar held out his hand, and I grasped it firmly. "I trust you like what you've seen so far of the school."

"It's something else, alright," I shrugged.

"Yes, I suppose it is," the Avatar shrugged. "I'm very glad Zander found you."

"Maybe," Zander added, "but the Dai Li found him first." Avatar Yendis cursed under his breathe.

"What has gotten into those cursed earthbenders? Have they been possessed by some malicious spirit?" Yendis questioned irritably.

"I think we may have a clue as to what they're after though. They posed their attack on Cade with a question," Zander proclaimed. Avatar Yendis turned towards me.

"They wanted to know where my parents were," I told him. Yendis scratched his head and opened his mouth to speak. "Before you ask, no, I don't know why. My brother and I are orphans. We haven't seen or heard from our parents in years." Before I could say anything else, my phone rang. I quickly tapped the call button and spoke into the receiver.

"Hello?" I answered.

"Cade! It's John! I'm in trouble here!" my brother spoke fast and quiet.

"John what's happeneing?" I asked panicked.

"I think someone's in the house. I was about to head out to work and some guys in hats and coats started approached the doorstep. I ran up to my room and…" the phone line was disconnected.

"John! John?" I practically screamed into the receiver. I threw down the phone and turned to Zander. "My brother's in trouble! The Dai Li are at my house!"

"Well what are we waiting for?" Zander spoke as he ran outside to his van. I followed and we began racing down the streets. When we arrived at the apartment, we hurried up the stairs, only to find the door kicked in. We searched through the apartment until we came upon the scariest thing I had ever seen. John, my brother, my protecter, and my best friend was lying mangled dead on the floor, a shard of rock lodged in his chest. The stress of the day had finally gotten to me, and I began weeping uncontrollably. Zander stood next to me, his hand on my shoulder.

"I'm sorry," he whispered. When I had finally pulled myself together, I stood up. Wiping the tears from my face, I turned to Zander. I knew what I had to do.

"Take me back to the school. I will learn airbending. And when I am ready, I will avenge my brother and kill the Dai Li. Every one of them," I proclaimed.


	4. A Rough Start

Chapter 4: A Rough Start

The drive back to the school was a blur. All of my thoughts were fuzzy and slurred together, and I could barely see. I don't remember how long it took us to get back to Andrews Academy, but it felt like eternity.

"Cade, I'm very sorry about your brother," Avatar Yendis tried to console me. It didn't work. There was nothing anyone could do to fix what had happen. The only consolation I would accept at this point was the satisfaction of stopping the Dai Li's hearts. _Permanently_. "While you were out, I took the liberty of registering you in the appropriate classes." Yendis handed me a folded sheet of paper that I assumed was my schedule. I nodded and walked out of his office where Zander was waiting for me.

"You've got about half an hour before your next class, so let me show you where you'll be staying," he said motioning for me to follow. I walked silently behind him down the hall where he led me to a corridor of nothing but doors. No lockers or windows, just doors.

"Here we are, room 258," Zander said as he opened the door. I entered the fairly spacious room and looked around. It looked similar to my room back at the apartment. The apartment that I swore an hour ago I would never return to if possible. I smiled lightly and nodded at Zander, and he left closing the door on his way out. Today's events so far began to catch up to me, and I collapsed onto the bed in front of me. I didn't cry, sleep, or even move for about twenty minutes. I just lied there. I finally found the strength to pick myself up onto my feet and walk out the door.

I opened up the sheet of paper Avatar Yendis had given me and skimmed my eyes across the words at the top of the page. It read, "Agni Kai. Zuko corridor". Honestly, I had no clue what these words meant. But I started walking anyway, hoping I could find wherever this place was. After about five minutes of searching, I finally wandered down the hallway labeled "Zuko Corridor". I moseyed around until I found an adjoining hallway labeled "Agni Kai" and then came two different paths. One was labeled "Student" and the other said "Observer", so I decided it was best to follow the "Student" pathway. The hall eventually came to a dead and I sighed, about to turn back, was something odd happened. The ground began moving up. I was on an elevator.

As the elevator climbed higher, I could hear cheering and an announcer speaking through a loud speaker.

"In our next match, we have Laura Parker against Walker Young!" he spoke. _WHAT?_ I thought to myself. The elevator came to a halt and I saw where I was: an arena. Filled with dozens of people. On the other end of the arena was a short girl with dark hair who looked like she was going to kill someone (which very well may have been the case). "Challengers, begin!"

Suddenly, the girl thrust her hands outward and fire flew from the palm of her hand. I almost screamed and quickly leapt out of the way. By the time I had gotten my bearings, the girl had already swung her arms back around and launched at least six different tongues of fire towards me. I flung myself to the ground and felt the heat of the flames rush past me.

"Fight back, Walker!" I heard people in the crowd yelling.

"Get up and face me!" the girl commanded as well. It was painstakingly clear that I was in the wrong place at the wrong time, so I had a choice to make. The first option was to dance around for this lady until she realized I wasn't the person she thought I was, and the second option was to make the best of it.

Guess which one I went with?

When I got back up on my feet, the girl had already kicked fire at me. Giving myself enough space to leap if what I had in mind didn't work, I got control of my breath and stuck my hands out. It was in that instant that something clicked (I don't know what), and I felt energy rushing through me. I swiped my hands to the side in the same fashion that the girl had, and a strong gust came blowing in, pushing the fire bolt to the side and into the wall. Despite how far away I was from my challenger, I could see that she was shocked to the point where she couldn't move. Still connected to whatever energy was inside of me, I swung my hands above my head and I felt wind gathering in a vortex. I quickly thrust my hands out in front of my and the vortex spiraled towards the girl, sending her sliding backwards. I spun around and pushed my hands out once more and the girl flew backwards against the wall. I still had energy and now I was starting to experiment, so I leapt into the air and was surprised to find that I almost hit the roof. I landed directly in front of the girl and stuck my hands out menacingly, as if I was going to attack again.

"Cade! Stop!" I heard Avatar Yendis' now familiar voice behind me. "She is a friend!" I glanced down at the girl and saw the fear in her eyes. He was right. "Come with me." Avatar Yendis pulled me out of the arena.

"What was that?" I asked in frustration.

"_That_ was a mistake. You went down the Student corridor didn't you?" Avatar Yendis replied. I nodded firmly, still waiting for an answer to my question. "You were supposed to go down the Observer hall. Agni Kai's are a traditional duel held between two firebenders. I figured just watching some of the things we did here would help you get more accustomed to it. They must have mistaken you for the other challenger and assumed that it was Walker who was coming up the elevator."

"Wait, you said that Agni Kai's are only held for firebenders?" I asked.

"Yes, that's why Laura stopped attacking when she saw you were an airbender," Yendis explained. "Come on, let's get you to the Observation Section."


	5. A Friend and a Stranger

Chapter 5: A Friend and a Stranger

After my little incident in the Agni Kai arena, Avatar Yendis showed me to the Observation Stands where I met up with Zander and watched the match. I watched in shock, amazement, and a bit of fear as the two firebenders in the arena flung themselves around, sending blazing inferno attacks at each other that were so powerful that they had to bring in more firebenders to keep the flame away from the crowd. Walker fought hard against Laura, but she fought harder. After about forty-five minutes of dueling, Laura launched a final attack that sent Walker down to the ground gasping for air.

"Our winner of today's match is Laura Parker!" the announcer cheered as Laura helped Walker off the ground and shook his hand.

"The outcome of that match was clear before it even start," Zander said once we had returned to the school. "Laura is one of the most powerful firebenders in the entire school. She's almost as skilled as Avatar Yendis."

"And how powerful is Yendis?" I asked.

"Are you kidding me? He has more power and brains than Fire Lord Sozin and Ozai combined!" Zander marveled.

"See, I have no earthly idea what that means. But it sounds like you think very highly of him," I responded.

"Oh yes, he's my mentor and my close friend. I've know him for quite some time," he said. There was a long pause and I didn't quite know what to say.

"Hey, I've got at least an hour until my next class starts so I'm going to grab some lunch now. You're welcome to come with me if you'd like," I told Zander.

"Thank you, but I've got somewhere I have to be in a few minutes. Have a good lunch," he dismissed. With my hands in my pockets, I made my way to the lunch hall to grab something to eat. Today's lunch included a burger, some chips, and water. The room was so noisy, I couldn't hear my own thoughts. Which at the time was a good thing because my thoughts were filled with loss and regret. If I had been at the house, Zander would have come there. Zander, John, and I could have fought off the Dai Li. John would still be alive. My train of thought was cut off when a girl with dark hair sat down in front of me.

"Hey there. I'm Laura Parker, the girl from the Agni Kai," she spoke with a smile. I nodded and smiled lightly.

"Cade Wilson. Sorry about that. I didn't quite know what was going on," I explained, hoping there wouldn't be trouble.

"It's no problem, it's what I would have done too. So I take it you're new here?" she questioned.

"Yeah, as of this morning. I can bend air apparently," I replied.

"Pretty well too. For a first timer," she laughed. "How did Yendis find you? Did your parents know? How did they respond when they found out?" Laura began asking.

"Yendis' advisor, Zander, came and found me just as the Dai Li did. I don't have a mom or a dad, just a brother," I responded quietly.

"Oh my gosh, I'm so sorry. I didn't mean to…" I waved my hand before she could finish.

"It's alright. You didn't know," I said.

"But…at least you still have a brother. Some family is better than no family," she tried to console. I chuckled a little.

"Used to," I muttered.

"What?" she whispered.

"When Zander snatched me away from the Dai Li, they went after a consolation prize: my brother. He's dead," I sighed. The conversation was stale for a moment.

"I'm…so sorry," she managed to choke out. I pulled myself together before I could break out bawling again.

"Don't worry about it. I'll be fine," I proclaimed firmly, no matter how much of a lie that was.

"Well, at least tomorrow is a new day. Things have to get worse before they get better. I'm sure you'll find things get better pretty easy around here," Laura said. I smiled at her optimism.

"Besides, once I get the hang of airbending, I'm going after the Dai Li," I mentioned. Laura nearly gagged on her soda.

"Are you insane? The Dai Li have like a killer instinct that's almost like a sixth sense. People have tried to stop them and died trying. Please, for your own sake, don't try to go after them," she pleaded. Before I could respond, my phone buzzed. I switched on the device only to find a text from an unknown number. It read, "Cade, it's Zander. I have a lead on the Dai Li. I'm going after them tonight. If you want in, meet me at the entrance of the school at midninght."

"Don't worry," I said to Laura as I shoved my phone back in my pocket and smiled knowingly. "I won't."

Somewhere on the other side of town

"Look, I don't know what you're talking about," the shadow spoke.

"Liar. You know exactly what I'm talking about. You of all people should know. You _trained _them. That's why you were fired, isn't it? They thought you had led them to rebellion," the stranger accused.

"But I didn't!" the shadow barked.

"I know that. But no one else does. Now I'm going to ask you one more time. Where are the Dai Li?" the stranger demanded.

"Why do you care?" the shadow cowered. It was becoming clear that the shadow truly had no affiliation with the Dai Li anymore.

"Alex is dead, Adrian! Why did think I was here in the first place? You think I'd risk letting anyone onto the fact that I know where you hide? Admit it, you fear them as much as if not more than everyone else does. That's why you're locked in this basement," the stranger accused.

"If you know I fear them, then what makes you think I'm gonna tell you where they are?" Adrian taunted. The stranger was fed up. He threw out his hands, and Adrian froze. His body moved in coordination with the stranger's hands into a painful position. Adrian cried out in agony and cowardice.

"Because you want them gone, because you want your position at the school back, and most of all, because you fear bloodbending more than the Dai Li. Now tell me where they are," the stranger demanded.

"You demon! Let go of me! Please! They'll kill me!" Adrian screamed in pain.

"Won't be much left to kill," the stranger said as he shifted his hands once more, causing Adrian to yell in pain.

"Alright, alright I'll tell you!" he cried out. "They're at 450 52nd Street just south of here! They're changing locations tomorrow morning! After that I know nothing!" The stranger dropped his arms and Adrian gasped in a breath. As he left the small basement, the stranger pulled out his phone and began typing in a message.


End file.
